It was a quiet Monday for the platinum group metals. The one fresh, verified development was Nornickel's warning that a planned furnace overhaul could affect 2027-2028 output, issued alongside stronger third-quarter palladium and nickel volumes. The rest of the week's PGM news remains dominated by Valterra Platinum's Q3 production report from last Friday.
Top stories#
Nornickel flags 2027-28 output risk from furnace overhaul, reaffirms 2026 guidance#
Russia's Nornickel said on Monday that a planned major furnace overhaul may cut output of its key metals in 2027-2028, even as it reaffirmed its 2026 guidance. The company will begin a nine-month overhaul next year of a key flash-smelting unit in the nickel production chain at its Nadezhda Plant, and it expects the work to affect output of its key metals in 2027 and possibly 2028, according to Mining.com's report of the announcement, citing Reuters.
For the third quarter, palladium output climbed 25% from the second quarter to 736,000 ounces, while nine-month output was down 4% year on year at 1.934 million ounces. Nornickel kept its 2026 forecast of 2.415 million to 2.465 million ounces of palladium unchanged, and said it expects copper and palladium output to land at the upper end of its annual forecast range. A multi-year smelter outage flagged this far in advance is a supply-side signal worth tracking into 2027, even though it leaves 2026 volumes untouched.
Valterra Platinum's third-quarter production report, published 23 October, remains the week's other notable item: refined PGM production fell 41% to 576,900 ounces on the re-phasing of planned maintenance into the quarter, while the company's average realized basket price rose to US$2,383 per PGM ounce, with iridium and ruthenium realized prices up 80% and 98% year on year respectively.
Prices and market context#
Valterra's own Q3 2026 figures, covering the quarter ended 30 September, give the most recently verified dated price readings in the PGM complex: the company realized $1,726/oz for platinum, $1,315/oz for palladium, $8,438/oz for rhodium, $7,720/oz for iridium and $1,583/oz for ruthenium, all up sharply year on year, though platinum and palladium eased from the prior quarter amid weaker automotive demand and broader macro concerns. For the wider market backdrop, the World Platinum Investment Council's Platinum Quarterly for Q2 2026, published 9 September 2026, shifted its full-year 2026 forecast to a 265,000-ounce surplus from the 297,000-ounce deficit it had projected in the prior edition. Readers can track current spot and futures levels on our Platinum Price Today and Palladium Price Today pages, with longer-run context on the Platinum Price Chart.
What to watch#
- Nornickel's nine-month Nadezhda Plant furnace overhaul, due to start in 2027, and any further detail on the expected 2027-2028 output impact.
- Valterra Platinum's fourth-quarter 2026 production, after the company said Amandelbult had returned to steady-state output by the end of the third quarter, supporting an expected step-up in the final quarter. Background on the operator is on our Valterra Platinum page.
- The continued gap between softer platinum and palladium prices and stronger iridium and ruthenium prices seen in Valterra's Q3 results; see our Iridium Price and Ruthenium Price pages.
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